QuoteMax wasnt even pulling up any trees for us but still a loss when we’ve a small squad and a good few injuries. Would have taken 8th at the start of the season if offered and nothing has changed since.Originally Posted by joey B
If Derry could get Duffy, Pat McEleney and Hoban in a starting xi for a sustained period they'd run away with the league. All 3 so unfortunate with injuries
Max wasnt even pulling up any trees for us but still a loss when we’ve a small squad and a good few injuries. Would have taken 8th at the start of the season if offered and nothing has changed since.
If Rob Cornwall didn't get injured in the first game of the season Bohs might have performed better early on and Declan Devine might still be in a job.
If Clarke and Farrugia were consistently available maybe Rovers would be more consistent and running away with the league like they should be.
Every team in the league has what if scenarios and it baffling to me that Derry and Higgins get so much benefit of the doubt when it's long known that McEleney and Duffy are injury prone and Hoban is starting to get up there in age and injury profile. It is a shame for the players for sure but if you were to put money on any players getting injured for extended periods of time those 3, Clarke and Farrugia would be among the favourites.
Bradley is getting out -thought by a lot of other managers imho. Galwayand Waterford recently in particular, but it goes way back too. I've always felt Rovers play "technically sound football by numbers" but no variety and showing the same vulnerabilities for years - conceding in transition in particular, but we also struggle to break down deep lying blocks. Both Dundalk goals against us this year have come from being stupidly dispossed deep in our own half. We simply make far too many mistakes too. Shels, Pats, Dundalk x 2, Waterford have all scored against us from utterly brain dead stuff.
That said, I think we played a good last 25 mins or so. McEneff played the Gary O'Neill role well, Farrugia looked dangerous. With ourt best players on the field we look good.
Big one tonight. A must-avoid-defeat game for Rovers. I still think we're the only team capable of going on a 8 wins out of 10 type run. A draw tonight still means being top(ish) going into the last quarter of the season is realistic, but losing would make that tough.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 20/05/2024 at 9:10 AM.
"a must avoid defeat" at home to a poor Derry side is a fair enough comentary on how bad we have been this season and how our expectations have fallen.
My fear is our season could be over by Friday and before people start talking about coming from 9 or 12 points behind isnt impossible it is a dream when by Friday we could have 6 wins from 18 matches.
That isnt a run of bad form that is half a season of underperfoming.
Please God we pull it out tonight and Friday but if we make Group stages which we need to Financially then id hate to see thios squad on a league run in and playing in Europe.
We may end up having to throw every European match will be a great look for the league..
Heres hoping the lads turn up , theyve done it before when the chips were down
To be fair, this is a big problem for all of Irish football right now, as shown by European games. Kennys time as national manager was this on bland steroids.
I think a Rovers win tonight will just quietly reinforce the point to potential rivals that finishing above us should win you the league.
6 points at the of this week is Rovers very much back in form, 4 points would be grand, 3 points ok, but 2,1 or god forbid 0 points from the next 2 games means the problems are persisting.interesting times ahead.
Is Hoban suspended tonight? I think he got his fifth yellow on Friday but I can't see anything about him being out
With a hugely depleted squad … we’re first for goals scored, chances created, passes made & possession…. Our critical problem is number of goals conceded ( due to Grace and O’Neill being absent).
So imo the lads who’ve been available have ‘turned up’ - as the sick bay empties I’d expect us to start motoring from this week on
I hope you are right and this team have dug it out before when needed but with half a season gone you ant be complaining about injuries, we signed the players.
Is there any concerns over training or strength and conditioning? Sounds like another thing that could contribute to an abnormally large injury list
There is bad luck and then there is poor S+C work. Whether an injury is a reoccurance or a new injury happening is a bit of an indication. Year on year, same players out with different S+C an medical depts then they are just crocked and should be looking at surgery if at all possible - long term out but when back should be more robust rather than in and out of sides and cameo appearances toward the end of the season racking up 10 appearances or so.
I asked this ages ago and didn't get an answer and in fairness it's probably a difficult one for the average fan to know but one thing that struck me as odd was that towards the end of his time at Bohs it was widely known that Burt was carrying an injury and his training was pretty limited between games as well as his availability for game. When he signed for Rovers it didn't seem come to light for them that he was carrying an injury until after the start of the season? It got to the point it was rumoured he was unhappy after the move to Rovers. I think for all the good Rovers do with the academy side of things their first team medical staff and s&C probably need to be reviewed because none of what's happening to them is an anomaly and it can't solely be due to the players.
As you rightly point out, it's hard for the average Rovers fan to answer if the S&C dept at Rovers is responsible for the unusually large number of injuries this season. Bradley did intimate that the injuries received this season are mostly "contact" injuries,but also stressed that the % of availability (72% apparently) this season is being investigated to get to the sources of the issue. We'll see what comes of it. As Calcio rightly points out, it's the loss of Grace and O'Neill from the 1st team that's the root of our below expected results this season,it's just that the flair players normally get all the headlines. Grace was Rovers POTY last season for a reason.
Is it just this season though? I feel like the narrative around Rovers the last few seasons has been at some point there is an "injury crisis". Now maybe this year is worse but it seems to be a recurring theme. Now Rovers being champions will usually means more games than most clubs but they haven't been especially far in the FAI cup the last few years & while Europe is certainly a factor other teams can and do manage it better with fewer resources. That's why I would view it as a medical team or S&C issue.
Definitely imho. It's common every season.
Arsenal used to have terrible injury problems (Wenger era), all muscular, now the same 15 players play every game and at a higher intensity than a few years ago.
I have a vague recollection of seeing an article recently "Was X a fraud?" referring to Arsenal's old S&C coach. Not sure who he was.
Farrugia was contact.
Grace - muscular
Towell - muscular
Watts - muscular
Byrne - not sure but seemed muscular/ligament related
Hoare - not sure (though not a key injury imho)
McEneff - probably an injury prior to joining
Gaffney - muscular I think
Clarke - muscular (and 2 or 3 times)
O'Neill - muscular (quad)
Something fishy there. Towell and Watts just pulled up after innocuous runs.
Presumably so? I'd guess it's just automatic, and clubs know the story. Nothing from the FAI publicly, mind.
It's automatic, happened Dundalk with Bradshaw. Booked against Shels on the Friday, missed the Drogheda match on the Monday.
Late late late win for Shelbourne,not the start SK and Pats were after…..
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks